International Conference “Twenty-five Years after Chernobyl Accident. Safety for the Future”Kiev, 20-22 April 2011 – For more details visit the UN in Ukraine website.

Inter-Agency Task Force on ChernobylNew York, 26 January 2011 – The United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Chernobyl took place today in New York.

General Assembly Adopts Resolution on Minimizing Effects of Chernobyl DisasterNew York, 15 December 2010 – General Assembly adopted today a Resolution on strengthening of international cooperation and coordination of efforts to study, mitigate and minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster (document A/65/L.25).

Maria Sharapova gives $250,000 for UNDP Chernobyl projectsGomel, Belarus, 2 July 2010 – During a two day visit to Chernobyl-affected areas of Belarus, Maria Sharapova announced a personal contribution of $250,000 to expand a UNDP-supported programme that provides sports and physical activities for youth in the region

24th anniversaryNew York, 26 April 2010 – A meeting to commemorate the 24th anniversary of Chernobyl featured a presentation by EBRD on safe shelter construction. UNDP Associate Administrator read a statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

New UNDP documentaryNew York, 24 April 2009 – UNDP produced a
documentary on Chernobyl-affected communities 23 years after the accident.

In line with a shift in
strategy from humanitarian assistance to development aid, UNDP assumed
responsibility for UN-wide coordination of Chernobyl issues in 2004.

This site is a UN platform
for international cooperation on Chernobyl. It contains a depository of
UN official documents on Chernobyl nuclear accident as well as the
updates from UN Coordinator of international cooperation on Chernobyl.

UNDP’s outlook on
Chernobyl is also consistent with the findings and recommendations of
the UN Chernobyl Forum, a platform established in 2003 by IAEA in cooperation
with UNDP, WHO, UNEP, UN-OCHA, UNSCEAR, FAO and the World Bank as well
as the authorities of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The
findings support the notion that, at the community level, poverty and
lack of socio-economic opportunity are the biggest danger for the
Chernobyl-affected areas of Belarus, the Russian Federation and
Ukraine.

The concluding conference
of the Chernobyl Forum (held in Vienna in September 2005) endorsed UNDP
recommendations for an adjustment of broader economic and social
policies that will spur economic development of the region. The
proposed solutions will tackle the priority problems faced by affected
countries, communities and individuals and will be implemented on the
Chernobyl-affected territories of Belarus, the Russian Federation and
Ukraine. These solutions, which build both on fieldwork in
Chernobyl-affected communities and UNDP’s development experience
worldwide, will address the following three areas.

1.
Information. Recent research has shown that people in
the Chernobyl region still lack the information they need to lead
healthy, productive lives. Information itself is not in short supply;
what is missing are creative ways of disseminating information in a way
that induces people to change their behavior. Moreover, propagation of
healthy lifestyles is at least as important as providing information on
living safely with low-dose radiation. To improve the population’s
mental health and ease fears, community activists will be mobilized to
deliver truthful and reassuring messages to dispel the misconceptions
surrounding Chernobyl.

2. Policy
advice. In an effort to facilitate a reorientation in
spending on Chernobyl, UNDP offers recommendations on policy change to
the governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. These
efforts will focus on overcoming the culture of dependency that has
developed among many affected communities, and on targeting scarce
funds to the truly needy as well as to investments that promote growth
and new jobs. Specific policy proposals include an overhaul of zoning
definitions and regulations to reflect conditions now recognized to be
safe for habitation and commercial activity; a reorientation of health
care spending towards better primary and preventive care; and a radical
overhaul of Chernobyl benefits and privileges, so that the needy are
covered by an efficient mainstream social welfare programme covering
the entire population.

3. Community
development. UNDP’s experience in applying a holistic
“area-based development” approach aimed at restoring a sense of
community self-reliance by showing local residents that they themselves
hold the key to their own recovery, will serve as a template for
community-based efforts across the region. Expanding early successes in
Ukraine to Belarus and the Russian Federation, this effort will
emphasize community empowerment, building a spirit of activism, and
helping overcome “victims’ syndrome,” as residents re-build basic
infrastructure and meet other urgent needs. Cross-border linkages will
build on the opportunities that such cooperation can bring for the
people of the three Chernobyl-affected countries.

As a result of UNDP’s
assumption from OCHA of responsibility for UN-wide coordination of
Chernobyl efforts, the UNDP Administrator became the UN Coordinator of
International Cooperation on Chernobyl. Under his leadership, UNDP is
working on promoting synergies in development work and ensuring
communication, coordination and cooperation among many agencies
involved in Chernobyl recovery efforts. For more information, including
on UN Coordinators
and history of the UN and
Chernobyl, click on any of the links above.